China News Service, Hangzhou, August 11 (Zhang Bin and Fu Feiyang) The 2022 8th China Mercy and Filial Piety Culture Festival will open in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province on August 13.
A few days ago, the Organizing Committee of the China Mercy and Filial Piety Culture Festival announced the list of "2022 Chinese Filial Piety Characters/Groups", and "Red Apple Charity", the first non-profit organization in Fujian to provide assistance to the minor children of prisoners, was selected.
Too late to share the joy, Lin Minming, the founder of "Red Apple Charity" and the first-level police chief of the Fujian Provincial Judicial Police Training Corps, has been busy with his colleagues recently for the 15-year-old Li Junbao (pseudonym).
Parent-child activities organized by "Red Apple Charity".
Photo courtesy of Lin Minming
"Li Junbao's father was imprisoned for accidentally killing his wife during the quarrel, and the child lost his father's love and mother's love at the same time." Lin Minming told a reporter from Chinanews.com that the child has been living in the uncle's house without a source of income. Busy contacting relevant departments in Xiamen, Fuzhou and other places to find employment opportunities for Li Junbao's uncle, so as to relieve the family's living pressure.
Parents commit crimes, what should their minor children do?
In Lin Minming's view, the inheritance of the culture of filial piety in the new era requires the whole society to give more care and tolerance to these children in distress.
Back in time to 2009.
During a public welfare activity to help children in poverty-stricken mountainous areas, Lin Minming accidentally learned about the underage children of prisoners.
The rumors among the neighbors, the huge pressure in life, the stereotypes of everyone in the school... These children share the responsibility of their parents with their weak bodies, and some even go astray. Lin Minming began to worry about it and acted. .
"In the beginning, I helped them in my own name, but a person's power is limited after all. Only when more people's attention and support are gathered together can it really benefit their lives." Lin Minming said, as the caring people continue to gather , "Red Apple Public Welfare" was officially established in 2014.
Lin Minming told reporters that the most important activity of "Red Apple Public Welfare" is "lead through the wall".
"'Wall' is the high wall of the prison, and 'lead' is to build more connections between prisoners and their children, try to fill in the lack of parental or maternal love for children, and also help prisoners realize the importance of family, Improve the effect of educational transformation." Lin Minming said.
Just recently, "Red Apple Public Welfare" held the 28th "Leading Through the Wall" Family Expansion Camp.
Lin Minming was relieved by the changes in Qiu Xiaohan (pseudonym), who was about to enter the senior class of kindergarten in September this year.
Qiu Xiaohan's father is a prisoner, and his mother works outside the home. The family owes hundreds of thousands of yuan in foreign debt.
She and her sister Qiu Xiaoyun (pseudonym) are now raised by her grandparents.
However, Qiu Xiaohan, at a lively and active age, is always reticent.
Children draw and origami under the guidance of volunteers.
Photo courtesy of Lin Minming
"When my father was serving his sentence, the two sisters were young, so there was a lack of fatherly love in the growing environment." Lin Minming said that during the four-day family expansion camp, Qiu Xiaohan and other campers experienced morning exercises, public welfare classes, letter writing, The birthday party, gesture dance rehearsal and other links became more cheerful in the interaction.
In the end, she said at the family meeting: "Dad, I miss you so much, you go home quickly", and her father also burst into tears.
According to Lin Minming, "Red Apple Public Welfare" pays attention to children's current situation and their future development; it cares about children's physical condition and their mental health.
"In the process of understanding the children's family situation, we found that some children were unable to enter school on time because they did not have a registered permanent residence." Lin Minming said.
Take the case of the prisoner Zhang Ye (pseudonym) as an example. Zhang Ye was a fugitive before he was imprisoned.
During the escape, he and his wife had five children without a marriage certificate.
"The household registration issues and family situations of these children are relatively complicated, but we have experience in dealing with similar situations, and we are confident to solve them this time." Lin Minming said that in recent years, "Red Apple Public Welfare" has been committed to solving "black households" of children of prisoners. "Problem, through DNA identification and other means, more than 20 school-age children have obtained household registration and entered the school.
Lin Minming believes that children should not lose the opportunity to receive education because of the fault of their parents, thereby affecting their own life trajectory.
Talking about the future development of minor children of prisoners, Lin Minming said: "It should be answered by the whole society."
"In the process of helping these children, we found that many people in the society still look at them with colored glasses and cannot separate the crimes committed by parents from innocent children." Lin Minming said, this may lead to Children give up on themselves, unable to face life and study with a positive and optimistic attitude, and even go back to the old ways of their parents.
In addition, although Lin Minming and "Red Apple Public Welfare" have been engaged in supporting the minor children of prisoners for more than 8 years, and have received extensive attention from all walks of life, they still face the difficulty of insufficient funds.
Lin Minming calculated an account: "Red Apple Public Welfare" has maintained more than 1,000 minor children of prisoners in real time in Fujian Province, and the organization will raise about 5.6 million yuan from all walks of life in 2021, excluding the organization's own funds. Operation and maintenance costs, the average amount per child each year is not sufficient, but each assistance activity requires corresponding funds.
"Helping these children can't stop at one time, but requires long-term attention and rich support from both material and spiritual, otherwise their lives will soon go back to the past, like we never appeared." Lin. Minming said frankly that the power of a public welfare organization is still limited. To make the minor children of prisoners keep pace with the times, it needs the continuous improvement of policies and systems, the introduction of relevant laws and regulations, and the attention and understanding of every member of society.
Lin Minming also said that the various difficulties faced by prisoners after returning to society will also affect the development of their children to a certain extent.
"Take Li Junbao's uncle as an example. He was also a prisoner. He has just been released from prison and has encountered obstacles when he is looking for a job." Lin Minming said that the effect of education and reform during his sentence is good and the possibility of re-offending is low. relevant departments can give appropriate employment assistance, which can not only improve their family conditions, but also prevent them from repeating the same mistakes.
The road is far, but the journey is coming.
"Starting in 2019, Fujian Province has provided a subsidy of more than 1,400 yuan per month for de facto unsupported children, which has given us new hope." Lin Minming said that the current support work for minor children of prisoners has been compared to 10 years ago. With great progress, he still has enthusiasm and confidence for the future of this public welfare undertaking.
It is reported that as of now, the total number of children served by "Red Apple Public Welfare" has reached 3,788, covering 28 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities) and 451 counties (cities, districts) across the country.
The 8th China Mercy and Filial Piety Culture Festival in 2022 is hosted by China News Service and Hangzhou Lingyin Temple, undertaken by Hangzhou Lingyin Temple, China News Service Zhejiang Branch News Development Center, and China News Service International Communication Group Zhejiang Branch, and won the "China News" newspaper, China Philanthropist Magazine, Zhejiang Provincial Committee of the Revolutionary Committee of the Communist Party of China, Zhejiang Provincial Committee of Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan Overseas Chinese and Foreign Affairs, and Hangzhou Yunlin Public Welfare Foundation.
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